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Khan: Lamont Peterson should be banned for life

By William Mackay: Amir Khan takes a hardline stance when it comes to his conqueror IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson, who recently tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

Khan flat out wants Peterson banned for life from boxing for his one positive test, even though Peterson has already stated that he was under medical supervision for treatment for his abnormally low natural testosterone.

Khan told the Telegraph “Anyone who has been done for drugs should be banned for life. Peterson failed a test and that should be his punishment…If a boxer fails a drug test he should never been allowed to fight again.”

I don’t know that I care for Khan’s stance on the fighters that test positive. It’s a little too punitive and much too harsh. This shouldn’t be a situation where you basically cut off short a fighters career because of one mistake, because when does it end? If Khan believes that fighters that test positive should be banned for life, then who’s to stop another fighter demanding that fighters that shove and pull down on their heads be banned for life from boxing for their fouls.

Both of them give you an unfair advantage, don’t they? If a fighter that fouls by shoving, pulling down on the head, hold & hit, and putting them in headlocks are allowed to get away with it, then doesn’t it seem a tad unfair? On one half Khan believes that Peterson should be banned because he feels he had an unfair advantage, but then he says nothing about his own shoving, and pulling down on Peterson’s head that he did last December.

Shouldn’t that be something that Khan should be banned from boxing for? Of course, I don’t think he should but then I don’t think people who use testosterone for a medical treatment should be banned either.

I just get the impression that Khan is still sore about having been beaten by Peterson. Having the guy banned, if it were possible, still wouldn’t change the fact that Peterson had Khan looking panicky. Peterson exposed Khan, and whatever happens after the fact won’t change it.

But I think Khan is going WAY over board with his wishes that Peterson and all boxers that test positive for steroids be banned. Where’s the compassion in the guy? If everyone would be fired and banned from their jobs for making mistakes, then would be working? We can’t have this all or nothing type of rules for boxing.